11:34 PM,
Nov. 17, 2012

Lea, ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., draws clear in the stretch to win the Commonwealth over favorite King David.

Written by

Lea was bet down to just more than 5-2 odds in the capacity field of 14 in Saturday night's $117,100, Grade III Commonwealth Turf for 3-year-olds on Churchill Downs' only Downs After Dark card of the fall meet. And he ran like a good thing, opening up to a three-length advantage in the stretch before holding off favorite King David by three-quarters of a length.

The victory was the 31st stakes at Churchill for century-old Claiborne Farm, which bred and owns Lea with Adele Dilschneider, leaving the fabled Paris, Ky., operation only one stakes behind Calumet for the all-time lead under the Twin ...